![]() ![]() Quote: Caesar: Et tu, Brute? (III, i, 78) Analysis: Caesar’s dying words express his disappointment that Brutus takes part in the assassination. He claims himself unmatched in regards to his greatness. Analysis: Caesar compares himself to the Northern Star and displays the arrogance of which the conspirators accuse him. Quote: Caesar: I could be well moved, if I were as you / If I could pray to move, prayers would move me / But I am constant as the Northern Star, / Of whose true-fixed and resting quality / There is no fellow in the firmament. Little does Caesar know, his death will come in the next act. His actions, however, demonstrate recklessness. Analysis: Caesar shows bravery in these lines. Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, / It seems to me most strange that men should fear, / Seeing that death, a necessary end, / Will come when it will come. Quote: Caesar: Cowards die many times before their deaths / The valiant never taste of death but once. This shows Brutus’ honor as well as his naivete, the former gives the conspirators a good name, the latter dooms their enterprise. He feels swearing an oath would diminish its worthiness. Analysis: Brutus truly feels killing Caesar is just and honorable. Quote: Brutus: Swear priests and cowards and men cautelous, / Old feeble carrions and such suffering souls / That welcome wrongs unto bad causes swear / Such creatures as men doubt but do not stain / The even virtue of our enterprise. ![]() Once one reaches the top, he forgets about the lower rungs that brought him there. He compares Caesar’s rise to power to climbing a ladder. He loves Caesar, but understands that human nature will turn Caesar into a tyrant. Analysis: Brutus argues with himself the morning of March 15. Quote: Brutus: But ’tis a common proof / That lowliness is young ambition’s ladder, / Whereto the climber-upward turns his face / But when he once attains the utmost round, / He then unto the ladder turns his back. Cassius’ description ironically fits Marc Antony as well, for after Caesar’s death, Antony shows himself to be “lean and hungry.” Act II Analysis: Caesar astutely characterizes Cassius. ![]() Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look / He thinks too much, such men are dangerous. Quote: Caesar: Let me have men about me that are fat, / Sleek-headed men, and such as sleep o’ nights. As long as Caesar is in power, Cassius claims, men like him and Brutus will be petty and destined for dishonorable deaths. He compares Caesar to Colossus, a giant statue of the Greek God Apollo, which reportedly spanned the harbor entrance at Rhodes and was tall enough to allow ships to pass between its legs. Analysis: Cassius vents his worry about Caesar’s growing power to Brutus. Quote: Cassius: Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world / Like a Colossus, and we petty men / Walk under his huge legs and peep about / To find ourselves dishonorable graves. This warning along with a multitude of other signs should have made Caesar aware of the impending assassination. (I, ii, 18) Analysis: These five words have become one of the most famous warnings in literature and history. Quote: Soothsayer: Beware the Ides of March. Murder of Caesar by Theodor von Piloty - 1865 Act I Lets get started! If you haven’t read Julius Caesar yet, you can find the full text of the play here. This analysis will help you better understand this historically important play. Below you will find several important quotes from Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare covering all five acts. ![]()
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